Festival of The Sheared Sheep
by Chicken Yuki
Summary: So I'm the new rancher/farmer in Bluebell, and the townsfolk insisted I enter my prized sheep to make for good competition. I agreed while not bothering to check up on my sheep right before entry, and well, I ended up in a very awkward position. I just hope this doesn't make me look bad in front of Laney after making all that effort to leave a good impression with her.


_Disclaimer: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns is property of Marvelous Interactive and Natsume._

**Harvest Moon: A Tale of Two Towns**

**Festival Of the Sheared Sheep**

It was an awkward morning in Bluebell for my first ever participation in the Sheep Festival.

To my left was a hopeful rancher girl from a far-off town with an equally hopeful and happy sheep standing proud with its fluffy white wool grown out. I thought I felt uncertainty between the two, though it was clear both had enough empathy for each other that they could grasp each other's feelings better then I could read either of them.

To my right was the earnest local, Ash. He looked far more confident in his partner, a very noticeable black-skinned sheep with the cleanest white fur I've ever seen on any of its kind. He wasn't exactly an arrogant guy, but I could tell by looking at the two that they felt they had it in the bag.

And on my end, perhaps their confidence was warranted.

I was the silly rancher standing smack dab in the middle of both of them, with a sheep stripped completely of its fur, shivering in the cool Autumn weather, standing before an audience feeling cold and naked.

I had no idea where my common sense had gone when I agreed to enter my top sheep in this festival when it was completely unpresentable in its state.

As the audience was eying each competing sheep, I quickly spotted Laney with a pitying gaze upon my own. The situation became increasingly mortifying with her presence. I mean, this was the girl I fell in love with, and we were actually hitting it off quite well before this point.

By now she's probably thinking about the sort of inconsiderable ponce I must be, entering a naked sheep in a contest that requires some sense of dignity.

Why did I bother resuming this losing battle?

Is this how I'm suppose to maintain my own pride?

At the expense of another?

In that case, can this really be considered a case of pride?

Or am I simply following formality?

Ugh.

The ones responsible for taking in contestants didn't even bother warning me ahead of time on this.

Then again, I think one of the people responsible was Ash's Mother.

Was this some intentional act of sabotage?

Then again, everyone was strangely sincere in accepting my entry, despite the obvious drawback.

Maybe this was Bluebell's idea of some insane prank.

Right before judgement was announced, my partner rubbed her docile head against me.

I looked back and noticed she still felt cold, but she looked strong and firm.

Maybe she wanted me to face this with whatever dignity I could muster?

Or it knew something I didn't?

Either way, I chose to place in her.

Not that I believed we could still win, but that we could at least we could come out of this looking good.

Finally, judgement came.

Mayor Rutger left left a huddle of judges to give his announcement.

Ash stood forward with an unwavering confidence in his eyes.

The visiting rancher tried her best not to look rattle.

And I just stood around trying not to give off the impression of some cruel animal abuser.

"Sorry for the long wait! It's time to announce the results!" Mayor Rutger finally declared.

"In third place, Ash and Bella!"

Ash's once-proud face completely shattered. Frankly, I was surprised that Golden Boy here wasn't declared King of the Mountain this year.

Of course, this meant our humble out-of-towner would be taking grand prize.

"Next up, in second place... Carrie and Dottie!"

Our second place rancher looked disappointed, yet somehow relieved at the same time with that bittersweet smile of her's.

But then, if she's in second place, wouldn't that mean...?

"And finally, first place! Beating out the other competition by a mile... Johnny and Shemp!"

Suddenly, fanfare blared out from the speakerphones as I stood there with the most perplexed look on my face.

Really? I won? Just... how?

I looked back at my partner, who didn't seem as confused with the results as I was.

Then again, maybe it's because sheep don't have a complete grasp of the human language, but still, I get the feeling she'd be smiling without a hint of shock about now.

Suddenly, Mayor Rutger spoke up once more.

"What a thrilling contest! Now let's have a round of applause for our fine contestants!"

Everyone in the audience gave a good loud cheer and a thunderous applause in response. And yes, even Laney was enjoying herself. Apparently,no one was bothered the least by a naked sheep being in a respectable animal contest, let alone winning it.

As soon as everyone else emptied the mountainside area, Mayor Rutger presented me with some valuable rose perfume as the grand prize. Obviously, I can't use this stuff myself. Of course, I could just sell this and make some gold on the side, but I thought it would be more appropriate to celebrate my unexpected victory with someone else.

Later that night, I paid a visit to the local cafe where Laney lived and worked part-time.

"Rose Perfumed?" Laney replied curiously as I presented her with my gift. "Wasn't this the prize you won at the Animal Festival?"

I nodded.

"Uh, yeah." I chuckled, "I suppose it would be more sensible to offer you the daily cooking ingredient like I usually do to help with your recipes, but I thought tonight would call for something special with my win and all."

Laney nodded before slowly taking her gift.

" I see..."

"It's not like I could use the stuff myself, you know? I thought maybe a lady like yourself would appreciate something nice and scented for when the mood struck you? Eh... I'm sorry if I'm making gender assumptions here." I explained.

"No! No! This is great!" Laney insisted, "I just wasn't expecting you to let go of such a valuable prize without a fuss. I mean, this is an expensive perfume made with some hard-to-get ingredients. You could have earned a profit instead. I would have been fine with the usual herbs. It certainly saves me plenty of time looking for them myself."

"Like I said, it was a special occasion! And maybe you could use that perfume for a few special occasions of your own?" I proposed.

"Sure, if I can think of such times..." Laney said with what looked like flushed cheeks on her face.

For awhile, we had some awkward silence between us, until Laney decided to speak up.

"You know, about that sheep of your's..." she began.

I gulped.

Great, was she going to call me out on my stupidity now?

"You must have had complete confidence in your ranching and your sheep to enter her while her fur was recently clipped!" she said with a giggle.

"R-Really? Well..."

Of course, I was too shaken and embarrassed to explain myself so quickly.

I mean, I basically had a complete memory lapse when I agreed to enter poor Shemp.

"But I can see why. Even all the cows and chickens in your ranch look so nice and happy whenever I see them. You do such a great job of taking care of them all. You must love them a lot." she told me with that sweet smile I had become well acquainted with over time.

"Um... that's certainly true!" I nodded, "Though I think... I'd be concerned that my sheep shenanigans today might have come off as a tad... arrogant or something?"

"Not at all." Laney replied, "In fact, you looked really modest up there. I'd have to say your sheep would have to care for you a lot if it was able to stand beside you unabashed without its warm, fluffy fur."

"I suppose so." I agreed.

Of course, Laney also had this uncanny ability to look at the bright side of the most difficult of situations, and I couldn't help but admire that part of her as well.

"Though I'm not just the animal guy around here, you know? I can be people person." I joked.

"And I'm grateful for that. I appreciate how well you get along with Georgia. I always thought it was nice that she could make a new friend." she replied.

"And what about you?"

My question made Laney go quiet for a bit before she could answer with a modest smile.

"Yes. Of course." she replied.

Both of us then looked down at the bottle of perfume I presented her not too long ago.

"I really hope you'll find a use for that sometime. I just think it might be a shame to win that only for it to never be used." I offered nervously.

Laney seemed distracted as she blinked for a moment, then looked back at me with a coyish smile.

"Maybe I could give it a try for one of our meetings? It would be nice to spend time off smelling like something other than something freshly-baked for once."

Sure it might not have been one of the most intimate moments in my quest to charm Laney, but I thought it was certainly refreshing compared to what happened earlier in the day.

And I'm glad I could offer something to Laney that's different from the usual. And it happened to be a festival prize no less!

Of course, I owe all this unexpected wackiness to my trusty sheep, who managed to win me the festival while lacking her fur.

Thanks Shemp.


End file.
